Combat Poetry, is it the future?

[Pugilist]

In recent days my interaction on Yahoo! Answers has elicited some interesting responses. I have become accustomed to such things from children of the mind in the Martial Arts section but, to be honest, it rather caught me by surprise in the Poetry section.

Now I am not all that concerned with these responses and they will not change my normal actions and answers here. How about you?

Does the tendency for people to take any criticism as a caustic personal attack give you pause? Do you avoid commenting on certain people just not to be involved in their drama?

If so, how do you believe this affects the Poetry section?

[Jeff L]

I do not find this at all a problem for me. Perhaps it's thanks to my m.o. in deciding what to review. If the poem has no value to me, I will not bother criticizing it. So I tend to start off with positive responses. But I pull no punches. If there are weaknesses, I will say so. But I think that I receive the respect that I give. I try to make sure I condemn the sin without attacking the sinner. I do think that your critiques most often come from that same perspective. However, I feel that sometimes people who have given less than their best sometimes incur the wrath of your righteous indignation. I think we both have the same goals, but I can understand why your manner elicits, at times, a hostile reaction. And if you disagree, I'd be glad to go a few rounds with you in the ring. I'll be sure to hide a horseshoe in my glove.

[Sptfyr]

The only effect is that it is sometimes difficult to tell who wants the help and who doesn't. I consider the source before I offer a critique. It's usually pretty easy to tell who wants it and who doesn't. I will even visit their bio if I suspect age may be an issue. That won't stop me from commenting or making subtle suggestions, but it does determine how I approach them. I'm a teacher and I have a degree in Psychology so I can't help but be concerned with the age of the posters. There are stages of development in self esteem that can be sorely damaged with a harsh critique and I think that we have a responsibility as adults to treat children with a bit more care and understanding. It is also important to consider the nature of a teenager. Quite a few teens are naturally combative to begin with and a harsh critique will only fuel the fire. Most of the time, It's not the criticism they are objecting too, but how it is delivered. I have experienced both respectful and disrespectful criticism. Call me silly, but I'll take the respectful criticism over the disrespectful any day.

[skumpfsklub]

It's a new jungle, with new beasts in it.

I've learned to avoid some of those beasts, and to watch their antics from a safe distance. But my bestiary is far from complete, as I've been here only a few seasons. I have only some notes on the marks of some critters found here that are especially unpleasant (for me) to tangle with--and those notes are of questionable value. E.g., I tried to establish a correlation between toplofty screen-names and quality of poetic/critical skills. That exercise had equivocal value (for several reasons, which I won't go into here).

Yeah, I'm slightly trepidacious when I think a poem presented within my compass as a critic. I'm thinking that I might have useful things to say toward improving the piece--and now a cold chill runs down my spine, as I guess at the mind and meat that made the mess I want to meddle with. Will the poet be receptive to it?

The stronger pieces are easier to deal with. I assume, usually rightly, that the stronger poems come from stronger poets, who have developed a pachydermy that makes my oxpecking a welcome visit.

The weaker the poem, the more dangerous the courtesy of criticism. It's only a rule of thumb, but probably the one rule the newcomer must know.

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There's already a wealth of well-written response here. Frankly, I'm feeling outclassed, so I'll limit myself to this.

Excellent question, Pugilist. You might have found your niche already.

[Windyloveskids]

If I were a poet I would not want glowing reviews...I'd want the truth. You cannot get better unless you know where you need to improve.
I just submitted a few poems for attack err I mean review and we'll see what happens.
Will you look at them, cause I value your opinion? You don't have to be nice. I'm a big girl.

[Annabella]

Yes, I do avoid commenting on certain people for various reasons. If the poem is really bad, and all the comments are positive, then I am afraid I take the easy way out and keep my mouth shut. Sometimes, I realize that the poem has been plagiarized, either copied straight from the web, or some lines have been changed here and there to make it appear less suspicious. These poems are usually really bad too. I used to say something and was called a "fat cow" for this. I don't really care, but most of the time I no longer bother. There are many fakes here, so I usually keep to my friends.

[elyslund]

How it affects the Poetry section........horribly!
Will children affect my answers?.........No way!!!
If they can't take criticism, they will never evolve into better poets/writers. No pause at all!
I do not avoid answering their questions....I'm going for the record in TDs.
Don't be surprised by anything in the Poetry section....or any other section...have found same in every other one!

Good Morning!

[Stu T]

Combat poetry eh? Have not come across it but its sounds good, will have to check it out.

[Elaine P]

I've given up on critiquing poetry. Either I comment favorably or not at all. Most poetry posters don't want to see unfavorable comments; they want to be told their poetry is wonderful. It's human nature, after all, to take criticism of one's work personally, but it's even worse when the work is terrible, the criticism warranted, and the poster young and inexperienced.

[Always the Penumbra]

Writing poetry can be a very personal thing, so I can sympathize an individual's sensitivity to criticism...up to a point. My personal modus operandi is to provide a thorough critique (anyone that has seen my previous postings can attest to this) which covers what I think are positive and negative aspects of a given poem.

I have little patience for people who only post their poems for the sole purpose of seeking unconditional gratification. They're not seeking ways to improve the craft of poetry; they're looking to abet their own narcissism.

I also have little regard for responders who put out perfunctory and/or sycophantic responses purely to gain points for their own statistics. I've had more than a few sessions where (at least to my own impartial perspective), I clearly provided the more elaborate and thought-out response only to be usurped by someone who just told what the asker wanted to hear.

That being said, I too am guilty of being complicit in some respect to this point system in that I won't go out of my way to answer individuals whose poems are extraordinarily weak but whom I feel are merely fishing for compliments. Why should I spend all my time writing up elaborate responses only to have my credibility (whether rightly or wrongly personified in my Y!A statistics) reduced by a vote against me.

On a side note, I am a happy to engage people who seem to want to legitimately discuss established poems, but not so with people whom I suspect merely want their homework written out for them. However, even then, I might try to lead such person into thinking for themselves by providing some guidelines without providing outright answers. There are people who will answer such questions outright without any similar qualms.

While I realize the point system creates an important incentive to keep answerer's returning, it also creates a problem in the "Top 10 Answerers" list where some individuals (I'm not saying all) becoming complacent or perfunctory in their answers, i.e. they start running on autopilot based on their statistical-derived reputations, and/or merely telling askers what they want to hear.

Of course this is to the detriment of people who legitimately want to discuss poetry and legitimately want to write better poetry. They can be found here, but it's hard to gage that intention through this particular medium. It doesn't stop my from trying, although admittedly I've been on sabbatical for a while from answering, precisely because it is so taxing for me to provide thorough answers.

P.S. Speaking about the intersection of martial matters with poetry, you should check out French playwright Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac in which the eponymous character composes a ballade in the middle of a duel! Very witty stuff.